Valery+-+Ann+-+Jake

Ni Hao! My name is Jake. I am 16 years old, and I am a junior (3rd year) at Arapahoe High School in Littleton, Colorado. One time when I was very young, I was probably 4 years old, I went to a festival with my family. All of a sudden, I looked around and realized I was lost and I couldn’t find my family. I started looking around when I thought I saw my mom. I ran up to her and I hugged her, but then she turned to look at me and I realized she was not my mother! I was so embarrased! Then I saw my real mom, and this time I was positive that it was her. I was so glad but I was also scared. I apologize that this story isn’t that exciting but I don’t remember much from when I was very young.

**Hey, this is Valery. Well, I guess that age is some kind of privacy? Let's just skip it. lol So...cliche time,I'm a sophomore at Beijing University Of Chinese Medicine majoring in English for Medical Purpose. I'd like to be an interpreter someday,but it's still a long way to go. Your story above reminds me of "lost" when I was little. When I was 3, my family went to the beach. Mom and I was in the water, playing. Definitely,there was a life buoy around my neck. And when my mom turned her head back from talking to someone,she found there was only buoy left! Mom searched for me in the water anxiously, then she caught me. She was scared and asked if I was ok. Surprisingly, I told her that I had a dream under water! Mom was shocked. Since then, she believed I could do everything 'cause I was not afraid at all! Well, that's it! Oh, I've always wanted to ask you if you have any siblings. The one child policy made me the only child in my family. What a shame.**

Hey Valery! Yes, I have one younger brother who is 14 years old. His name is Eric. I was wondering what kind of music you like. My favorite kind of music is classic rock and oldie's music from the 1960's and 70s. Some of my favorite bands are The Doors, Pink Floyd, and the Beatles. I also really like Neil Young, Simon and Garfunkel, and Cat Stevens when I feel like listening to softer music. Are there any good Chinese bands you could recommend to me?  <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span style="color: rgb(56, 136, 250);">**Hi Jake! The Beatles is awesome! I don't actually listen to the oldie's music very often. We've got this Billboard Top 100 or something over the radio here in China. So, what I like is mostly what it has recommended. Well, I have each album of Avril Lavigne's. I like Jack Johnson for all his songs are soft. I also listen to Simple Plan, Green Day, Take That, Maroon 5, Daniel Powter and James Blunt. They're all fine. There are also many brilliant Chinese bands, F.I.R.and Shin are probably the most famous ones. They're really good! And I bet you've heard of Jay Chou, he is well known by his R&B. I'm listening to LeeHom these days! His latest three albums are all excellent! You should really download some from the Internet. Maybe I can send them to you by E-mail if you like. Happy new year!!!** I'm in my spring break now~waiting for you to recommend me some movies to watch~ <span style="color: rgb(0, 103, 255);"> Hi again! I like a lot of those bands too! I will definitely check out some of that music. If you could send some to me over email that would be cool too. Happy (belated) new years to you as well! How long does your spring break last? Here we get spring break for 1 week every March. I don't know if I'm doing anything for spring break yet but I wanted to go somewhere with my friends. Some good movies that I like to watch are The Big Lebowski (my favorite movie!), Kung Fu Panda, and One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest. Also

<span style="font-size: 9pt; color: rgb(84, 141, 212); font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif';">**<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">We only have two long vacations here in China, winter vacation and summer vacation. Winter vacation usually lasts for a month, and it also covers the Spring Festival which everyone receives a 7-day-holiday to celebrate. We don't actually have this "spring break”, but we have many traditional holidays in spring, such as “Tomb-sweeping Day” and May Day. Summer vacation is something all students are expecting as it lasts for 2 whole months or even more! ** <span style="font-size: 9pt; color: rgb(84, 141, 212); font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif';"> <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">**Yeah, we watched “To Live" in our Chinese class too. The movie was originated from a novel. If you see "To Live" as a tragic movie, I suggest you read the novel, because everybody can’t help crying after reading it. In the book, ALL the people died at the end, except for the old man with his cattle. It was sooooooooooo cruel and heart-stricken!!! Anyway, it was a real picture of people living in that era. Talking about movie, Titanic 2 will be on this summer? Have you seen the preview? Jack’s back! And somehow he was still alive (horrible…)! I’m wondering how the scenarist**<span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif';"> **is going to explain that. But I don’t like it if they turn Titanic into a** <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">**science fiction ! Anyway, I'm looking forward to it.

Ni Hao Valery. Sorry for taking so long to reply. Hello!**

It's OK, take your time. I got a question. There are two ways to cook a fried egg at restaurants, and they are <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">sunnyside up and __? Thx

<span style="font-size: 9pt; color: rgb(84, 141, 212); font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif';"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif';"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Our biggest school holidays are the summer one (3 months) and the winter one (2 weeks) and we also get a week off during the spring. And no, I haven't heard about Titanic 2 but that sounds ridiculous! Is it a Chinese movie because I haven't seen anything about it here? Also there are more than two ways to get an egg at a restaurant    , the most common are sunny side up, over easy, or scrambled. As long as we are talking about food -- what is the best kind of dumpling to eat? -Jake

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IL_Zum1bMdU <span style="color: rgb(84, 141, 212);"> **That's What I've found about Titanic 2 on Youtube. But it doesn't seem real now. People say it's just footage from other films, I really don't know. Whatever, it's still cool. Well, China is the home of dumplings.HAHA. There are so many different kinds. Here are some pictures. And I'm gonna tell you my favorate.

That is Chinese Dumpling, known as 饺子 in China. We eat it on traditional festivals, and everyday also. It can be both spoiled or steamed. My favorite flavor is fennel which smells special. I think 饺子 is the best kind to eat. Everyone knows how to make it from scratch in China. And it's really tasteful.

That's wonton, 馄饨 in China. It's spoiled and then put into an already-made-soup which contains laver and caraway. It's often very hot. I don't like it very much because it's too smooth to catch.lol Anyway, 饺子 tastes way better than 馄饨!

That's Shaomai, we call it 烧麦. It's steamed and stuffed with mixed pork and rice. Nowadays people just put seafood in it to give it a better taste,but rice has always been a must. Shaomai is awesome! If you don't like Chinese Dumpling, try it.

Oh, these little balls have always been my love. 元宵 or 汤圆 is probably the only dumpling which gives a sweet taste. Actually you can stuff it with everything that tastes sweet: fruits, chocolate etc... It's sticky(not sure if I'm using the right word). My favorite flavor is sweetened bean paste. 元宵 is specially prepared for Lantern Festival.

汤包 is the only dumpling I've never tried, 'cause it's a southern China snack while I live in the north. I've seen a video about it. There's soup in it. You need to eat it with a straw or it might spill. The soup is made from crab cream. I believe it must be great, because in no time did Chinese people ever put such thing into dumplings until the Royalty did so some hundred years ago.

P.S. If you call any of them differently, please tell me. I'm eager to learn.

Oh, Happy Valentine's Day! Are you going out with someone?...gossip time. ^^**

All of those dumplings are making me hungry! That's interesting that there's so many different types. The only type of those that I've seen here is the <span style="color: rgb(84, 141, 212);"> **饺子**, and we call them either Chinese Dumplings or pot-stickers. Do you like Baozi (I think that's how its spelled but I'm not sure)? When I was in China I got to try some and I really liked them.

On Valentine's day I didn't do anything romantic, but instead I went on a trip with my friend to see a play that his brother was acting in. Do you celebrate Valentine's in China, or do you have any similar holidays? Our next holiday here is Saint Patrick's day, which is from Ireland, but people here just use it as an excuse to party :-)